Blossoms, bullet train and beyond: exploring Japan by Land and Sea.

[craven morehead]

Sounds good

 

[drron]

And foreign flagged cruise liners have to do the same here. An ABF requirement.
Though here the cruise lines have a couple of quick ways by visiting islands or reefs that have been excluded from our migration zone such as Ashmore reef on Kimberley cruises . on QLD coastal cruises Willis Island at 450KM off the coast is regarded as a non Australian port so cruise ships pass by it so able to sell duty free goods.

 

[Quickstatus]

An ABF requirement.

Whats the reason?

 

[Flyfrequently]

D Day. Off to Sydney this afternoon

Anyways, that period when you are all packed up and ready to go but it's too early.

Sydney airport could be a bit of a jungle for some today @Pushka - good thing you are arriving not departing!

 

[Pushka]

I haven’t been through Adelaide Airport since November. Gosh. It’s fabulous now. Of course very quiet but no more people yelling at you, none of the umbrella issue and security smiles!

 

[RooFlyer]

Whats the reason?

I thought it was so its an 'international' cruise, so they didn't have to employ crew on Australian conditions.

Sorry Pushka for the diversion.

 

[OZDUCK]

Whats the reason?

Act of Parliament - e.g see S. 139C of the Customs Act 1901 -"international voyage" , in relation to a ship, means a voyage, whether direct or indirect, between a place in Australia and a place outside Australia.

Basically, a duty free allowance is only available if a passenger has been on an 'international voyage' or 'international flight'. To be a international voyage a ship or vessel must have visited a place 'outside Australia'. So a 'voyage to nowhere' cannot give a passenger access to a duty free allowance.

 

[VPS]

Have fun

 

[Quickstatus]

Sorry it's a bit chilly here in Sydney

 

[Pushka]

Adelaide's 'wip' Qantas club - still under Reno so jury out a little but my thoughts so far are that it's much more functional and much less comfortable. Maybe when it's complete they will move things out but currently you feel like you are sharing a conversation with your 10 new best friends. Charging facilities are excellent, guess that's a thing. As we left we saw a door opened by tradies into the WP or chairman's lounge. Now that looked wonderful.

Anyways an easy on time flight to Sydney. But Adelaide (SA) is so dry. Hope this is green on the way back.





Enjoyed a cheese platter on the plane.



A nice view of a ship and Sydney Harbour.



We scored the premium view.



And I had the children's meal for dinner. With alcohol of course.



Early morning tomorrow.

 

[VPS]

Adelaide's 'wip' Qantas club - still under Reno so jury out a little but my thoughts so far are that it's much more functional and much less comfortable. Maybe when it's complete they will move things out but currently you feel like you are sharing a conversation with your 10 new best friends. Charging facilities are excellent, guess that's a thing. As we left we saw a door opened by tradies into the WP or chairman's lounge. Now that looked wonderful.

Anyways an easy on time flight to Sydney. But Adelaide (SA) is so dry. Hope this is green on the way back.

View attachment 438531

View attachment 438532

Enjoyed a cheese platter on the plane.

View attachment 438533

A nice view of a ship and Sydney Harbour.

View attachment 438534

We scored the premium view.

View attachment 438535

And I had the children's meal for dinner. With alcohol of course.

View attachment 438536

Early morning tomorrow.

Slightly OT but I read that Adelaide had the driest summer on record and yet there are floods in the far north. Beautiful blue sky days in Cornwall with temps in the mid teens - perfect for me although I got a bit hot walking in the sun yesterday

 

[Pushka]

Just about to leave F lounge. Service a bit patchy. Didn’t ask for champagne.



A basic but very tasty breakfast.

Someone on the cruise arrived in Tokyo yesterday and said Cherry Blossoms are now in full bloom and beautiful. Yeah.

Nihon ni ikimasu

 

[RooFlyer]

Someone on the cruise arrived in Tokyo yesterday and said Cherry Blossoms are now in full bloom and beautiful. Yeah.

The great thing about your cruise is that it will absolute max somewhere, and pretty good almost everywhere.

Friend of mine there right now and is sending some very nice pics from around Osaka.

What are you doing for shore excursions - private or ship?

 

[Pushka]

A v

The great thing about your cruise is that it will absolute max somewhere, and pretty good almost everywhere.

Friend of mine there right now and is sending

So. It was 9am. G&T. Preceded by champagne.




Now it’s 10am in Tokyo. Dinner. Oh dear.




Now on water. And absolutely delicious. MrP had Japanese and loved it. He took a photo - he knows me. Later for that one.

 

[Pushka]

What do people do after dinner? They go to sleep. Cabin dimmed. Super quiet and yes we both slept for around 3 hours. Marvellous.

Then a little snack.

Good cloud formation.

I asked one the crew about seeing Fuji san. Turned out she was the CSM and she asked the captain when it would appear. .

And. Thar she is.






The CSM returned to ask if I’d seen it. I scrolls through the photos and she said - you got it! She was so excited for me. Heavy cloud around it.

 

[Pushka]

Some pictures from MrP.







He loved it.

And the GBR.

 

[Pushka]

Good morning Tokyo
And sky tower.

 

[Pushka]

Some photos from flying in last night. Really interesting picking out all the locations we will visit.

The hotel, Keio plaza has wonderful room amentities. Might need to make room in the luggage for these.



Caught the limousine bus to the hotel after having collected the Ninja wifi which is working brilliantly and raiding the atm.

Amenities in the club room. And a quick visit to the lounge. Almost closing for them.

 

[Pushka]

Excellent breakfast this morning and off to the Imperial Gardens then Ueno Gardens. The traveller suica card worked a treat.

Fabulous time to be in Japan right now. Cherry blossoms maybe just past their peak and being windy today meant being showered with blossoms. Beautiful rhodendrons and blossom.



















It was getting crowded when we left at 11. We ditched the Hibiya Park thought and went straight to Ueno. Good move.

 

[Pushka]

Ueno park was wonderful. But first a visit to 7/11, to get a face mask, and lunch. Yum.